Where to Find the Best New Hiking Trail in South Australia

On Kangaroo Island, a 20-minute flight from Adelaide, Flinders Chase National Park is a 32,000-hectare spread with free-roaming koalas and kangaroos. It’s long been a favorite weekend escape for nature-loving Australians, but it’s lacked decent long-distance hiking options. The September opening of the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail—an unguided 64-kilometer path along the island’s southwestern coast that takes five days to hike—has changed that. You'll pay $123 to hike it, which includes the use of four campsites, with the fee going toward maintenance and operation.

Don’t feel like camping? The nearby glam 21-room Southern Ocean Lodge, which is one of the best hotels in the region and bypasses the trail, offers a four-day package for those who prefer to rough it by day and sip cognac next to a roaring fire by night (from $4,400 per person, all inclusive).